Reporting Wildlife Incidents

Whenever we are out and about around our islands, it is inevitable that we will eventually encounter an animal in distress, be it injured, beached or even dead or dying. When found in this situation, knowing who to call is always a problem, not only for you, but also the animal concerned.

Some contact details are provided here. Please store them in your mobile devices. If you believe that the incident involves a criminal activity, then the police should always be your first port of call.

The contact details contained here will always be changing and evolving. Should you know of any updates or additional organisations who will respond to such wildlife incidents here in the Outer Hebrides, would you please notify us via email info@curracag.org.uk

Scottish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SSPCA):- 03000 999 999Will respond to most incidents involving any animal.

British Divers Marine Life Rescue (BDMLR):- 01825 765546 (office hours) or 07787 433412 (out of hours)Will respond to incidents involving live seals, whales and dolphinsMore information on the BDMLR plus advice on how you can help marine mammals in need can be found at :-www.bdmlr.org.uk/stranded-animals

The Predatory Bird Monitoring SchemeWould be interested in any recovery of bird of prey carcases. Further information can be found at www.wiki.ceh.ac.uk

If you find a dead marine animalContact the Scottish Marine Animal Stranding Hotline with the animal and locationon 01463 243030 or 07979 245893, email stranding@sac.co.uk or via their website to be found at www.sruc.ac.uk. You can even Tweet @strandings

Bird strikes at wind turbinesScottish Natural Heritage (SNH) have set up an email reporting system to make it easier for people to report bird strikes at wind turbines. This follows recent high-profile media reports in which birds have been killed following strikes with wind turbines, such as the White-throated Needle-tailed Swift and several raptor collisions.SNH has moved to make the reporting process simpler by creating a new email address Collision.Records@snh.gov.uk to allow people to pass on information such as location, grid reference where possible, date, time, weather, the condition of the bird; species (if unknown then a description or photo), and contact details.

Should you find a dead otterThe International Otter Survival Fund (IOSF) based in Skye is co-ordinating the collection of dead otters for post-mortem examination by the Cardiff University Otter Project. The idea is to find out vital information about the health of the otters and the environment.If you find a dead otter, please contact the IOSF on 01471 822487, via their website www.otter.org or you can email them at enquiries@otter.org.